Strictly speaking, there are 3 different causes that can play a role in the development of developmental disturbances, in other words behavioral problems. These 3 causes are predisposition, environment and maturation of the central nervous system.
Causes
The first cause, predisposition, includes heredity and factors that play a role during pregnancy and childbirth. An important aspect here is heredity based on genetic material, DNA. Behavioral disorders due to predisposition often later develop into aggression disorders in boys, and anxiety disorders in girls. The aggressive form, which mainly occurs in boys, is a persistent pattern of behavior in which the rights of others are violated. The more inward-looking, anxious form usually occurs in girls. Depressions are an extension of this inward-looking form.
The environment is the most important factor for behavioral problems. Environment includes a number of structural factors. The disposition and nature of the parents also play an important role in the development of the child. If the parents are already mentally disturbed, the child will experience a different development than if it were born in a normal family. Of course, child abuse and neglect is bad for a child’s upbringing. When neglected, a child develops a negative self-image. In cases of abuse, the child sees aggression as a solution to problems. In addition to structural environmental factors, there are also life events that fall under the heading of environment. The birth of a sister or brother, moving, divorce of parents, death of parents, illness, trauma. The child’s process of detachment from its parents during puberty can also cause behavioral problems. These events can cause serious behavioral problems in the child or young person and often affect school results.
The third factor that may play a role in the development of developmental disorders is the maturation of the central nervous system in general and the brain in particular. The brain must be mature, and more or less intact, to allow normal functioning. From the brain, there are various conditions that can influence the growth and development of a person. This could be an abnormality, damage or disturbed brain maturation. Maturation is influenced by disposition and environment. It takes place partly before birth, but for an important part afterwards.
Treatments and help:
Before people start treatments, they must understand that they have a problem. They do this by taking into account events in the past, such as difficulty leaving old, familiar paths. The questions about what, why and how are necessary. Based on this you can describe, explain and, if necessary, take measures. They also need support
before they go to therapy . Adults (parents, teachers, friends, etc.) can be a great help in this. You can certainly help adolescents by letting them share knowledge and hard-won experience. One of the difficulties in counseling an adolescent is their overreaction to the childish and unidealized image of parental power that they remember from the past. It is reassuring to think that misbehavior can also be unlearned. Young people can learn new, more meaningful ways of doing things. Educators are generally the best people to help them make the necessary changes. Various methods of learning the new behavior include: giving rewards, developing new behavior patterns, leading by example, practicing skills, ignoring, Shock treatments such as horror stories about the dangers of smoking, drinking and drug use have not proven to be effective deterrents; they can even have a counterproductive effect.
Role-playing is a well-known treatment used by psychologists. They can help adolescents resolve conflicts using role play. The method is used to teach young people basic skills, help them make more contacts, and help them feel more confident when they are unsure. By re-enacting scenes, such as: talking to the police, having a conversation with an employer. It can also be clarified to ask the child and his caregivers to switch roles, with the young person playing the caregiver role.
This technique can lead to new insights and even increase empathy in both people. There is also a method to help adolescents discover how they see their world. It is useful for young people who have low self-esteem, feel rushed and lack self-confidence.
In very serious cases, expert help is needed. If an adolescent’s problems really cannot be solved anymore, it is best to seek professional help. The purpose of this help is to bring about constructive changes in behavior and personality. Such changes require a relationship of trust, one that develops on the basis of confidential conversations between trained care providers and the adolescent. People usually seek help when the problems remain strange or incomprehensible, when they are unpredictable and cannot be controlled. Behaviors or emotions are often only considered problematic when they occur repeatedly and are very powerful. Providing assistance means carefully investigating problems; an attempt is made to clarify points of dispute and discover new ways of describing and/or dealing with them.
Family therapy is also a very important treatment, the adolescents receive help in a different way. The purpose of the situation assessment and intervention by care providers is much broader than just the adolescent. Family therapists try to view the problem in the present rather than historically, seeing the adolescent as part of a complex network of personal and family relationships. The family organism, like every single member of it, moves between two poles; on the one hand the safety of the known, on the other hand the exploration of unknown territory, which is necessary for adaptation to changing circumstances. Behavioral change in the normal environment not only involves changing the undesirable behavior of problem children, but also about changing the behavior of educators who play an important role in the child’s social world. If the child shows extreme behavior, they can be placed in institutions. There they can work with these young people every day. This is important, so they can get rid of their problem behavior more quickly. They start talking about it openly and want to be helped. Institutions can have a positive effect on young people, but there are of course always exceptions. Some feel too much pressure and are very aggressive towards anyone who tries to help them. The result of this is that they leave the institutions worse off. It may seem strange or humiliating to enter into an agreement with an adolescent or perhaps even to create a written contract. However, such a procedure can be extremely useful in resolving difficulties and disagreements. Problems rarely come from one side: it takes two or more to argue or disagree. It may seem insensitive and matter-of-fact, but there is indeed an element of negotiation, of give and take, in our personal relationships. Relationships can be compared to economic agreements or the exchange of gifts: they involve a proportional relationship between costs and benefits.